New York man faces additional Centre County drug charges

Additional charges have been filed against a Yonkers, N.Y., man arrested last week.

According to a criminal complaint filed by Patton Township police, Joshua Powell, 32, allegedly sold heroin and cocaine to undercover officers on July 7, July 13 and July 26, meeting in Bellefonte for all three purchases. Powell is accused of selling officers 7 grams of cocaine and 47 bags of heroin over the three dates, totaling $1,600.

Troopers responded to a call at about 10 a.m. Thursday along South Pennsylvania Avenue in Centre Hall, the complaint said. The caller described a man with a backpack who had fled on foot toward the Centre Hall borough, saying a plastic baggie had fallen out of his pocket.

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A man matching the description, identified as Powell, was located at the Dollar General, the complaint said, but did not have the backpack with him. He was taken to the scene where the caller positively identified him.

Troopers canvassed the area looking for the backpack, the complaint said, allegedly finding it in a drain pipe on the same route the suspect would have run from the residence. The backpack matched the description by the caller as well.

The caller had arrived at the residence shortly before, the complaint said, when she was allegedly approached by Powell who said he needed to get items from the house. He then allegedly ran into the house, grabbed the backpack and fled the scene.

The plastic baggie in the driveway contained 18 bags of suspected heroin, the complaint said, while the backpack contained a bulletproof vest and a .38-caliber handgun.

A criminal check on Powell showed “multiple felony convictions,” the complaint said, which prohibits him from possessing a firearm. He also possessed the vest while in the act of a felony.

Powell was arraigned before District Judge Thomas Jordan on felony charges of burglary, possession of a prohibited firearm, unlawful body armor and possession with intent to deliver, along with other misdemeanor charges, according to court documents. Jordan set bail at $250,000.

Powell was also charged with eight felony charges of possession with intent to deliver, three felony charges of criminal use of a communication facility and other misdemeanor charges stemming from the undercover drug purchases. District Judge Kelley Gillette-Walker set bail at $1 million.